While high performance computer controlled lighting systems such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,806, (the predecessor of the present application) can readily handle the tasks associated with the remote control of multiple motorized parameter lighting instruments and the communication of large amounts of data for simultaneously executing multiple parameters in hundreds of lamp units, there exists a demand for increased system control flexibility and system reliability. Particularly, enhancements in the communication between or among controllers and the communication to and from the datalink system are needed.
As each major component of the system such as the controller, the datalink or the lamp units becomes increasingly sophisticated and thus plays a bigger role in the system, the failure of any one of them can cause disaster for a performance if such failure is not speedily detected and corrected.